ESPN Planning New Visual, Music Brand Identity For 2022-23 NBA Coverage
Tuesday, October 4, 2022 at 09:15PM By Barry Janoff
October 4, 2022: ESPN’s coverage of the 2022-23 NBA season will feature several new elements combined with some tried-and-true pieces across all screens and platforms.
This season marks ESPN’s 21st consecutive year televising NBA games.
ESPN and ABC will combine to nationally televise 100 NBA regular season games during the upcoming campaign, beginning with pre-season games on Oct. 6 and the regular season on Oct. 19 (the NBA season starts Oct. 17 on TNT).
ESPN said its Creative Studio developed a “revitalized brand identity for NBA on ESPN that showcases an artfully crafted future-forward animation and editorial look and sound (that) pays homage to the swagger and personality of the NBA."
“Like everything involving the NBA on ESPN, this has been a total team effort,” Tim Corrigan, ESPN vp-production," said via the network.
“We were thrilled to collaborate with our ESPN Creative Studio group to bring this new look and feel to life. It’s big, bold and contemporary and we can’t wait for fans to see it.”
The new visuals also come with a new anthem spot, "It's A Beautiful Time For Basketball," which features a roster of current and past stars including Giannis Antetokounmpo, Larry Bird, Devin Booker, Kobe Bryant, Steph Curry, Luka Dončić, Kevin Durant, Joel Embiid, LeBron James, Nikola Jokić, Michael Jordan and Jayson Tatum.
The new creative brand identity includes the WNBA and NBA G-League, making it the “first time on ESPN the three league will feature a cohesive look across properties,” according to ESPN.
“Leading creative initiatives like this one are exactly what we envisioned when we created ESPN’s groundbreaking in-house Creative Studio almost two years ago,” Carrie Brzezinski-Hsu, vp-ESPN Creative Studio, said via the network.
“We take sports from game to experience. It takes a dynamic collective of creative capabilities and storytellers to make fans feel like they are part of the game.”
In the creative, people will see new animated versions of the NBA's and WNBA’s respective “logoman" and “logowoman."
ESPN said throughout the season, the new branding would "come to life with innovative augmented reality enhancements that will be showcased across ESPN’s prime time and playoff programming, culminating ABC’s exclusive coverage of The NBA Finals, which will feature a new signature style."
Unique assets will give ESPN Creative Studio and NBA production teams the “flexibility to create team-specific versions while also allowing them to continue to build new elements that will ensure the longevity of the new look,” according to ESPN.
ESPN Creative Studio partnered with Made Music Studios to create the next evolution of the ESPN on NBA sound.
ESPN’s new NBA branding will be executed across all of ESPN’s NBA properties including NBA, WNBA, G-League, NBA Today, NBA Countdown, NBA Courtside, Hoop Streams, NBA Saturday Primetime, NBA Sunday Showcase, NBA Playoffs, NBA Finals, NBA Draft, WNBA Countdown, WNBA Finals, WNBA Draft, NBA Draft Combine, Hall of Fame, NBA Lottery and NBA Play-In Tournament.
ESPN Creative Studio worked with FutureDeluxe and Two Fresh on the campaign.
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